State records show pattern of neglect in death of Lauderhill girl

The last time anyone from the state saw Tamiyah Audain alive, she
was covered head-to-toe in clothing, “moaning” as she sat on the lap of
her caregiver. The attire concealed a terrible
secret: the severely disabled and sickly 12-year-old had lost more than
half her weight, and her lower body was pocked with bed sores and
wounds — one so deep her bone was exposed.

The apparent cause of
her death in a Lauderhill apartment last month: suspected starvation.
All right under the nose of ChildNet, the privately run Broward foster
care agency paid by the state to protect her.

“It’s an awful way
to die,” said Gwen Wurm, a University of Miami pediatrician who heads
the medical foster care program for Jackson Health Systems. “People in
that condition are usually groaning and writhing, unless they are so
drugged that they don’t feel anything.”

An internal report released this week by the Florida Department of
Children and Families shows that Tamiyah, who suffered from autism,
mental retardation and seizures, apparently had lived a horrific last
few months.

Her caregivers admitted locking her in a bedroom for
hours — allowing her to emerge for meals. Still, the once chubby child
who loved to eat had been reduced to about 50 pounds when she died.
Three separate tranquilizers used to subdue Tamiyah’s difficult behavior
left her so sedate that her foster care caseworker wrote the child was
in a slumber during many monthly visits. More here.